User Reviews

Beautiful copper color, lots of tight white head.
Hop aroma with a citrus-y scent to it.
Deep down bitterness but well balanced by malt and alcohol.
Carbonation was perfect. But I don't give 5/5 for mouthfeel, so a half point off it is.

650ml bottle. The next in the ongoing single-hop Double IPA series, this time showcasing, um, the 'HBC 342' experimental hop. Sounds more like a CDC virus code or something.

This beer pours a clear, medium golden amber hue, with two fingers of loosely foamy eggshell-white head, which leaves some spooky drooping webbed lace around the glass as it seeps away, and makes for some sexy legs after the fact.

It smells of bready, biscuity malt, some aged citrus rind, and a mildly grassy, and mostly floral hoppiness. The taste is quite indistinctly bitter right up front - it halfheartedly assaults the sides of my tongue, before giving way to a slightly gussied up version of the aroma. Bready, breakfast cereal malt (the Alley Kat house style), citrus, but neutered of any sweetness or fruitiness, and almost perfumed, but mostly just straight ahead country road adjacent floral esters, these lab hops really strutting their stuff.

The bubbles are prim and proper, i.e. sedate, the body a trim middleweight, and more or less smooth - those hops are the kind that like to crash the party, if yaknowhutimean. It finishes off-dry, the malt still having a say in things, but it's the hops, in their weird, but verily workable way, that drive things forward.

Wow - a truly bitter Dragon Series incarnation, and from a heretofore unheard of (to me), and unexpected source. Imperial floral hops, in a nutshell - interesting, awkward, and at the same time, pretty enjoyable. New things can be fun, eh?

From a 650 ml brown bottle. Pours out a clear deep gold hue, tight creamy ivory head that settles to a thin cap.

Toasty, bready malt with hints of chocolate on the nose, accompanied by spicy, leafy hops.

Hops are on the forefront in the flavour, spicy and a leafy herbal character, they carry a bit of warmth as well. Slight toasty, bready malt peeks through around the middle, however the hops still dominate and finish strong as well with more of a citrusy character of grapefruit rind and pith.

Medium-full mouthfeel, smooth full texture with a slight touch of grainyness, and moderate carbonation.

They beer itself is well-crafted, no issues there, however on a subjective level these new HBC 342 hops could use some company to help accentuate and regulate them at the same time, pretty in your face like the Columbus hops left to themselves. Still, kudos to Alley Kat for giving us a chance to see what these new experimental hops are all about, I'd never heard of them until this point. Eat yer heart out Mikkeller....

O - This one is different, and although it provides for a unique experience, it's probably my least favourite of the series to date. The ABV is nicely hidden, and the musty caramel and grassy hop notes are reminiscent of a strong english ale, but the bitterness on the finish was a bit much for me. Worth a try nonetheless.

A - mostly clear golden, thumb of head dissipated to a thin cover with thick lacing left
S - mild citrus and perfume notes, but mostly a grain aroma
T - bitter citrus and herbal hops to start, then sharp grainy malt, finishing with a unique bitter flavour
M - light and somewhat thin, unique and strong bitterness
O - the flavour brought out by this HBC 342 hop is unique for sure, could due with some hop balance but that was not the point in this case, so props to alley kat for continuing to push the boundaries of style